


three am

by accioharry



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Best Friends, College, F/M, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-08
Updated: 2018-03-08
Packaged: 2019-03-28 13:59:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13905504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/accioharry/pseuds/accioharry
Summary: "peter made her feel safe, he made her smile. he also made her so unbelievably angry that she’s actually screamed"a classic college!spideychelle au.





	three am

**Author's Note:**

> i actually based this little thing off of a true experience i went through, and though i’ve moved on, writing is extremely therapeutic for me and sometimes I just need to reflect on the last year.

It was three in the morning when MJ realized she had fallen asleep watching a movie. Her eyes fluttered open and she blinked a few times to adjust to the light coming from the laptop. The blanket she had over her had fallen on the floor, but the weird part was that her pillow kept slowly moving up and down, as though it was breathing. 

Wait. 

She pushed herself up slightly to see Peter completely asleep, his arm draped over her. He was sitting up, his head leaning against the back of the futon they were sitting on. When did this happen? When did they both fall asleep?  
MJ was frozen. She and Peter were inseparable, sure, both of them attending the same college and having a class together when they were freshman. However, there was always a line between them and that line was Liz Allen, Peter’s girlfriend who went to a school upstate. Liz was smart, kind, and already had her future completely designed for her, and Peter’s plan was to just follow her wherever she went. The problem? MJ was completely head over heels in love with her college best friend.  
Not wanting to wake Peter up and having to deal with the awkwardness of their position, MJ slowly lowered her head back onto the pillow that was on Peter’s chest. She knows this position wasn’t intentional, but a lot of things with them weren’t. She and Peter had dinner together every night, they walked each other to class, studied in the library, and annoyed each other to no end. But there was more to it: there were glances that lasted longer than normal, wrestling matches, an excessive amount of flirting, and now cuddling. The line between them was getting thinner by the day, and MJ’s feelings were hurting her more than ever. Forcing herself to focus on the movie instead of her thoughts, MJ tried to watch the movie that was on the laptop screen, but it was no use, and suddenly she was remembering a night she wanted so desperately to forget. 

....  
“Are you in love with him?” Amanda asked.  
“What?” MJ fumbled in her bag for her car keys. “Where do you want to go eat?”  
“MJ…”  
She shrugged. “He’s my best friend, aha!” She pulled the keys out from the bottom of her purse. “Chipotle?”  
“Don’t bullshit me with that,” Amanda shook her head. “MJ I’ve known you long enough to know when you avoid something like this.”  
Amanda moved across the street from MJ when the girls were fourteen. They bonded instantly from the time MJ invited her to go to a women’s march with her. From the outside the girls were polar opposites, Amanda was in a sorority, a sweetheart for another frat, and had a fling with a different guy every few weeks. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but MJ was the complete opposite: instead of a guy, MJ had a thing with a different book every few days, and she steered clear of the frats and sororities on campus.  
“He’s my best friend,” MJ repeated. “I don’t want to talk about this right now.”  
“You need to talk to someone who understands. I see the way you look at him MJ, you look at him like he’s…like he’s the center of the universe or something.”  
MJ sighed, throwing her bag on the ground. “What do you want me to say? I don’t know what love is. I know the millions of ways it can be described in a book or in a film, but I don’t know what it is for me, or if it even exists.”  
“Okay that last part is a definite lie,” Amanda smiled. She sat down on the futon in MJ’s dorm, patting the seat next to her. “Talk to me.”  
MJ sat down and immediately put her head on Amanda’s shoulder. The two girls sat in silence for a while as MJ contemplated her thoughts. Was she in love with Peter? He didn’t give her butterflies, and he didn’t make her blush. He didn’t make her feel how she felt when she was crushing on the boys on the football team in high school. Peter made her feel safe, he made her smile. He also made her so unbelievably angry that she’s actually screamed. He tested her patience and knew how to push her buttons. He’s made her so frustrated that she couldn’t think straight, but he also made her a better person. He knew everything about her from her favorite book to why she had to sleep with the same stuffed animal every night. He knew her fears and her dreams, he knew her.  
“It hurts…so much,” MJ whispered. “Sometimes I forget about Liz, and I think he does too. But they’ve been together for so long…and I don’t even think he thinks of me like that. This is so stupid-“  
“It’s not,” Amanda whispered back. “It’s you falling in love for the first time with a boy who drives you insane. Love isn’t some easy, happens mutually kind of thing. Not always.”  
“I don’t even know how this happened. He’s Peter, he’s just Peter. I didn’t plan this, I don’t want this,” MJ stood to wipe the tears threatening to fall from her eyes. “I don’t want to love him!”  
“I’m sorry,” Amanda whispered. “There is something there between you guys”  
“No, don’t say that. Everyone says that!”  
“Because it’s true!” Amanda argued back. “Come on MJ don’t be blind. If every person you meet assumes your dating Peter, there’s obviously a reason.”

...

Peter shifted in his sleep, moving his arm to scratch his head and MJ took that opportunity to sit up fully. Peter opened his eyes, blinking around a few times before noticing the movie was definitely over.  
“Did we fall asleep?” He chuckled, holding back a yawn.  
“Yeah, I woke up a while ago, but I figured you were tired,” MJ lied, hoping Peter couldn’t read her facial expression in the dark.  
“We’ll just finish it tomorrow,” Peter stood up, yawning. “Jesus Christ, MJ it’s 3 in the morning,” he turned on the light in the room.  
“Please don’t burn my eyes out like that,” MJ winced. She stood up, gathering the blankets the two had accumulated for their movie night.  
Peter laughed again. “Good night, MJ.” He swung his backpack over his shoulder, opening the door to the hall. MJ walked over towards him.  
“Text me when you get to your building so I know you didn’t die,” she smiled slightly, and Peter nodded and gave a thumbs up. MJ shut the door behind him and leaned her forehead on the door.  
Yeah, she was definitely in love with her best friend.


End file.
